Florida employers trimmed 1,247 jobs in January, but that was fewer than a year ago when 1,572 jobs were cut after the holidays, according to a monthly report released Thursday by the Challenger, Gray & Christmas outplacement firm.

Job cuts in the state and nationwide were mostly in retail, following the holiday shopping season.

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club in January laid off more than 500 workers statewide including 191 from its Lantana store, according to Challenger’s job-cut tracking.The store closed Jan. 26.

In Margate, Brookdale Senior Living announced 110 layoffs on Jan. 12due to cost cutting, according to Challenger.

Other layoffs, in retail, media and services, were outside of South Florida.

John Challenger, CEO of the Chicago-based outplacement company that tracks the nation’s job cuts, said that while it’s never fun to be laid off, the economy is healthy and many employers are “scrambling to find talent.”

Nationwide, employers cut 44,653 jobs in January, down about 2.8 percent from the same month one year ago, according to the report.

More than 34 percent of January’s job cuts were in retail. But that was nearly 32 percent fewer jobs chopped after the holidays than in January 2017.

Following the new tax law, some companies have announced employee bonuses and minimum wage hikes.

But Challenger said “it remains to be seen what impact the passage of tax legislation will have on companies’ staffing plans.”

Seven companies have announced plans to add more than 37,000 new jobs, including Apple with 20,000 over the next five years. Additionally, nearly 60 companies announced they are raising wages for their workers, typically to around $15 per hour, Challenger said.